Observation:
I met my CT for the first time today. I met her at 9:15 am in the faculty lounge, where she was checking her students' grades. A couple of her students had missing work and their grades were close to failing. She was calling and emailing the parents of these students. From there, she went to the library to meet with her special education collaborative teacher. They discussed how to best proceed with a biology lab planned for tomorrow.
My CT opens her class with letting her students have a quick snack. She explained to me that her class always has the last lunch and it is a long time for her students to go without eating. She's found that when she alows them a snack, they are much more productive during class time. Snack time lasts for about five minutes, and while they snack, they are to read the class overview (written on a dry erase board) and are to copy their homework into their agendas. Her students have their first formal lab report due on Friday. She had given them two weeks to prepare this report with having them write two rough copies. Today, she interpreted the very "overwhelming" rubric for them by giving them a shortened guideline to use with their final copy. She also made sure to tell them that it was their responsibility to consult the rubric to ensure achieving an "A." She talked them through each section of the lab report and asked the students for examples of what needed to be included in that section. She gave them the opportunity to ask questions. They all seemed eager to get a good grade given the amount of questions asked. After the lab report review, she had two other activities. The first was called "What the Heck Is It?" and the other was called the "Penny Lab."
Reflection:
The use of a dry erase board to convey the class overview is a helpful tool for the students. It allows them to know what to expect for the next 88 minutes. It also serves the teacher, in that, it reminds her what she wants to accomplish in the next 88 minutes. I think that allowing her students a quick snack shows her students that she is aware of/understands their needs and cares enough to meet them. This simple gesture fosters mutual respect between the students and the teacher. Following snack, she jumps right into a review of the formal lab report expectation. Because this is her students first formal lab report, she thoroughly interprets the rubic. She realizes that providing a guideline for the rubric is necessary to lessen the overwhelming nature of the task. The final copy was due on Friday, but prior to this, she assigned two "rough copies" in order to assess their progress (or in a couple of instances, their lack of progress, and as a result, warranted communication with parents.) I am not sure if she was in contact earlier with the parents of the students who are falling behind, but it seems to me, if it's Wednesday and the final copy is due on Friday, it doesn't leave much time for these students to complete the assignment. Perhaps a phone call to parents should have been made right after the first or second rough copy was due.
The "What the Heck is It?" activity was a fantastic opportunity for the students to use inquiry. They worked on this activity in groups of three or four, and then shared their observations and identity hypotheses with the class. They were all motivated and enthusiastically worked together and shared their ideas with the whole class. I enjoyed this activity so much that I asked her if I could 'borrow' it for a week. The Penny Lab was also a small group activity. Each group was to weigh various pennies and to record each penny's mass and year. When all groups were finished, the data was shared with the class and they were asked to look for any 'trends' associated with data. This activity, working with density, reinforced the work the students did with their formal lab, and offered additional information to support their conclusion in the formal lab report. Her use of a variety of materials/phenomena helped her students really understand the material.
I met my CT for the first time today. I met her at 9:15 am in the faculty lounge, where she was checking her students' grades. A couple of her students had missing work and their grades were close to failing. She was calling and emailing the parents of these students. From there, she went to the library to meet with her special education collaborative teacher. They discussed how to best proceed with a biology lab planned for tomorrow.
My CT opens her class with letting her students have a quick snack. She explained to me that her class always has the last lunch and it is a long time for her students to go without eating. She's found that when she alows them a snack, they are much more productive during class time. Snack time lasts for about five minutes, and while they snack, they are to read the class overview (written on a dry erase board) and are to copy their homework into their agendas. Her students have their first formal lab report due on Friday. She had given them two weeks to prepare this report with having them write two rough copies. Today, she interpreted the very "overwhelming" rubric for them by giving them a shortened guideline to use with their final copy. She also made sure to tell them that it was their responsibility to consult the rubric to ensure achieving an "A." She talked them through each section of the lab report and asked the students for examples of what needed to be included in that section. She gave them the opportunity to ask questions. They all seemed eager to get a good grade given the amount of questions asked. After the lab report review, she had two other activities. The first was called "What the Heck Is It?" and the other was called the "Penny Lab."
Reflection:
The use of a dry erase board to convey the class overview is a helpful tool for the students. It allows them to know what to expect for the next 88 minutes. It also serves the teacher, in that, it reminds her what she wants to accomplish in the next 88 minutes. I think that allowing her students a quick snack shows her students that she is aware of/understands their needs and cares enough to meet them. This simple gesture fosters mutual respect between the students and the teacher. Following snack, she jumps right into a review of the formal lab report expectation. Because this is her students first formal lab report, she thoroughly interprets the rubic. She realizes that providing a guideline for the rubric is necessary to lessen the overwhelming nature of the task. The final copy was due on Friday, but prior to this, she assigned two "rough copies" in order to assess their progress (or in a couple of instances, their lack of progress, and as a result, warranted communication with parents.) I am not sure if she was in contact earlier with the parents of the students who are falling behind, but it seems to me, if it's Wednesday and the final copy is due on Friday, it doesn't leave much time for these students to complete the assignment. Perhaps a phone call to parents should have been made right after the first or second rough copy was due.
The "What the Heck is It?" activity was a fantastic opportunity for the students to use inquiry. They worked on this activity in groups of three or four, and then shared their observations and identity hypotheses with the class. They were all motivated and enthusiastically worked together and shared their ideas with the whole class. I enjoyed this activity so much that I asked her if I could 'borrow' it for a week. The Penny Lab was also a small group activity. Each group was to weigh various pennies and to record each penny's mass and year. When all groups were finished, the data was shared with the class and they were asked to look for any 'trends' associated with data. This activity, working with density, reinforced the work the students did with their formal lab, and offered additional information to support their conclusion in the formal lab report. Her use of a variety of materials/phenomena helped her students really understand the material.